News Room

It has been a while since I last did an update. I recognise the National Chair Mark Fairhurst does a monthly update so there is little point in being repetitive but there are some important issues for me to report to you on.

The union representing the UK's 35,000 prison officers has welcomed the trial introduction of tasers in prisons.

Detention Custody Officers at the Gatwick Immigration Removal Centres are celebrating a major victory following the outcome of an employment tribunal case.

Please find attached NEC minutes for the 9^th July 2025 for your information.

Jackie Marshall NEC reports on the work of the Health & Safety Consultative Committee

The provision of PPE in prisons must not be an afterthought, says HMP Send’s Gary Milsom-James

There’s no sugarcoating it; Scotland’s prison system is in crisis. Overcrowding is at record levels, staffing is dangerously low, and violence is on the rise. But let’s be absolutely clear, it is our members who are being forced to hold the line in impossible circumstances

HONORARY LIFE MEMBER, EX-ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY ANDY HOGG: 30 APRIL 1961 - 9 MARCH 2025 For those of you who didn’t know Andy Hogg, he was the FTO in Scotland for more than a decade before his retirement, and a member of the SPOA NEC prior to the merger. He was the Trade Union Side secretary in between those roles, and a significant figure in the development of industria ...

Positivity was high among POA delegates in Eastbourne as they discussed topics around the theme of ‘Control not Chaos'

Late morning on the 12 April 2025, I received a telephone call that nobody in my position would ever wish to take.